500 Roubles Icone Bialynitchy

The Bialynichy Icon of the Mother of God spent decades hidden during the Soviet period, passed between private hands to keep it from confiscation or destruction. Its whereabouts remained uncertain for much of the 20th century. This coin was issued as part of Belarus's long-running Orthodox icons series, which the National Bank began using in the 2000s to document devotional objects of national cultural significance — several of which had similarly precarious histories under Soviet rule.

At 500 grams of .925 silver with applied gold-plating, these large-format devotional issues were produced in very limited quantities and sold primarily to collectors rather than through general circulation channels.